Lockdown 2020 - Rules and One Walk per Day

We've been on lockdown since the end of March, though it feels like much longer (I'm sure everyone can relate, right?).

In the UK, that meant pretty much the following:

- if you can work from home, do
- most places are closed, including beauty salons, parks, non-essential shops, and eat in restaurants. Several restaurants introduced or continued takeaway services. Most places that stayed open only accepted card payments.
- only go out for exercise once per day (and much of the time the instructions were to stay within walking distance of home)
- while out, stay 2 meters apart
- no meeting with people outside of your household.
Since so many people are out of work, the British government has provided aid to millions. I think it was up to 80% of salary, depending on different factors (it didn't apply to us, so I didn't pay much attention). 

Matt has been home more during the lockdown, so many of our walks have been family walks. We are lucky to live close to open space, and most of the time have been able to easily keep our distance from others. Our walks contain a lot of tree climbing and pretend games.

We found loads of tadpoles in the boating pond at the park.

For the most part, the weather has been sunny, and for me, it makes it so much harder to stay inside.

Lockdown rules have recently relaxed slightly, though vaguely. We're allowed to spend more time outside, and sitting or sunbathing is allowed as long as you stay 2 meters apart. Schools are planning to reopen in June, but only certain years will go back, and there is a long list of guidelines there. Only 15 children per "bubble," freshly washed clothes each day, staggered drop off and pick up times, etc. Clara is in the age group that is invited back, but the older children are not. They will continue doing virtual school until their years are asked to come back (more on updated homeschooling later). It's a really hard decision to make, whether to send kids back to school or not. No matter which way I lean, it feels like a wrong choice (and oh, the judgement I've seen by parents on both sides).

How has the lockdown been in your area, and how is it changing?

Diary of a Virtual School Mum - Day 1

Our school has worked very hard to set up resources for the children to learn from home. I fully appreciate all they've done, and can see that they care about the kids. But man, this is a lot of work for me as well. Here's a quick summary of our first day.

Pre-Monday work included receiving log in information for all three children on Google Classroom. There are also additional websites we needed set up, for different types of work. We need to order laptops, but since we haven't yet, I had to download all applicable apps to my phone.

Monday morning. I woke up thinking I would do a YouTube exercise video, but the girls wouldn't stop screaming at each other. They had gotten up and dressed as I had asked, so I'll consider that a victory. We had breakfast, then a short amount of free time before "school."

9:00 Clara logged in to a morning "meeting" with her teachers and classmates. She was excited to be able to see her friends, and her teacher talked for a few minutes about what would be happening for the day.  Clara's assignment was to decorate cardboard eggs and string them up on a garland. I fished cardboard out of the recycling bin for later.

9:20 Lily logged in for her morning "meeting." I must have had the time wrong, because for 10 minutes it was 4 or 5 children chattering until the teacher joined the call. It was another brief call explaining a few things, and then that was finished.

Miles' call was scheduled for 10:00, but two of his friends logged in early to talk. Miles joined them at 9:50, right before one of the teachers did. His main teacher showed them how to access a few things, and the morning meetings were done.

So the whole time the kids were on these video calls, I sat with them to make sure their microphone was muted, that they paid attention, and didn't do anything inappropriate.  I was able to do a load of laundry in between the calls.

10:30 I gave Miles and Clara a Lego challenge while I set up the computer for Lily's work. She had one maths lesson about telling time, and we worked through it together.

10:45 Next was science. We were supposed to find little creatures out in nature, take a photo if possible, and draw them out. Handily, Matt has recently started making terrariums, so we didn't have to go outside.

I uploaded the pictures above, and "turned in" her work.

11:05 Lily and Clara began decorating the aforementioned eggs, and Miles logged in to see his assignments. First was maths, which was figuring out the perimeter and area of a rectangle. There was a video lesson to watch, then a few questions for him to answer and return. I started making lunch (microwave mac and cheese).

11:45 Lunch time.

12:15 Miles gets back on the computer for English. We log in to another website, and he does three different activities. I have to charge my phone because of the video calls and checking the classroom app all day. And the teachers keep adding assignments and meetings.

12:45 Miles finishes English, and I try to find a delivery or collection time for groceries. It's fully booked for three weeks.

1:00 The girls play on their tablets while I relax on the television. The kids all have a snack.

1:40 It's almost time for Miles' music lesson, another video call. He starts out in the dining room with my phone, but I have to move him to the computer in the living room because he has to look at the words on the screen to sing along. A video call with several children singing a song they don't really know is... something. Miles keeps goofing off, so I keep muting him so he doesn't disturb the other kids. I notice that Clara is supposed to have a music lesson later on.

2:40 Music is finished, and the girls are fighting and running around like maniacs. I'm ready to be finished for the day, whether the kids have completed everything or not.

Here's a list of things we haven't done:

• Make more egg garlands (3 in total), and have Clara practice with a hole punch. We don't have a hole punch, so I'll skip that part. Maybe 3 eggs on the string will count (hopefully).
• Have Clara watch a slide presentation about birds building nests. There are questions for her to answer as well.Then she has to gather materials outside that a bird might use, and build her own nest. (This project can be done throughout the week).
• Have Clara watch a video about dinosaurs, and let her create her own.
• Lily needs to look at recipes (some given to her by the teacher, and find some in books at home) and answer some questions about what makes a recipe.
• All three kids have a rainbow art project to do.
• Miles has poem homework for Wednesday.
• Miles has a chapter of a book to listen to.
• Miles has to make a drawing to redesign the school garden.

It's now 3:30, and I have put on a movie for everyone. I need a glass of wine.

Stream of Consciousness - Coronavirus

I have more of our trip to Manchester to write about, but it feels a bit weird in the middle of a pandemic.

When we planned that February trip, we had originally wanted to go to London, but decided against it since it's one of the biggest tourist spots in the world. (I felt slightly paranoid at the time, because no one was altering travel in Europe yet).  Right before we left, we booked a pre-Easter trip to Rome and Naples, and days later, the outbreak in Northern Italy began. 

School has just been closed here, as of 2 days ago. Our school has been working extensively on setting up Google Classroom for the students, as we don't know when they'll get to go back. I've received several emails on how to access their work, and what time they need to log on to "meet" with the different classes. This all starts tomorrow, and though school will be understanding while we get used to this, I am nervous about keeping everything organized. I'm also nervous about being stuck in the house with the kids indefinitely. But I'm working on keeping my attitude positive, because I don't want my stress to rub off on the kids. Lily is already anxious about the whole situation.

So far we are all well. We can continue to do things like go for walks outside, we will just stay away from busy areas (not that many areas are busy these days). Matt still goes to work, but is on an adjusted schedule. We will keep busy with schoolwork, and we also bought a PS4 and subscribed to Disney+. There are loads of ideas floating around on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest on how to keep kids busy during this time, so if we get bored I will check them out.I'm also planning to start showing the kids videos about US history, so they can learn more about their background and culture.

This is by far the hardest time we've spent so far away from family. Even if we were in the US, we wouldn't be visiting everyone, but it's different to know that we can't get on a plane if there's an emergency.  The kids are really missing relatives, and I'm thankful for video chats.

Oh yeah, today is Mother's Day in the UK. Before school shut down, the kids drew and painted pictures for me. Lily brought a tulip home, and Clara made a bracelet. There is usually a Mother's Day assembly with the younger kids, but it was cancelled this year (hopefully just postponed - we'll see).

My portrait painted by Clara

Matt had to work, but the kids and I did go for a walk outside.

We passed by the park on the way home, and Lily desperately wanted to stop and play. There were a few families there, but I didn't feel comfortable stopping. It was difficult because she was upset, and I imagine there will be many more instances like that.

A near empty park on a sunny Sunday

For now I'll just focus on trying to help the kids with schoolwork and keeping myself busy. How are you all coping with everything so far? What is the hardest thing to deal with so far?

Manchester - Day 1

The kids had a week off school for half term break, so we decided to go to Manchester for a few days. What made us choose this location? Well, it wasn't a lengthy trip (we took the train), and it had a few places we thought would be nice to visit. Basically, we didn't have to think too hard about anything, which was nice.

We set out for the train station in the morning. We had booked first class tickets for the second train, but didn't see a seat reservation listed. When I asked about this, the rail worker said the seats were first come, first served. That seemed odd - why would we pay more for the ticket when we weren't guaranteed a seat? We got on the train, and the kids and I sort of had seats together. Clara and I sat at a small table, and Miles and Lily sat at a table across the aisle with two businessmen. Poor Matt nearly didn't get a seat at all, but then found one at the other end of the car. Matt has said that I now don't get to plan our travel and hotel on my own anymore.

"When is lunch? A table means lunch!"

Thankfully, the ride was pretty uneventful, and we arrived at one of the main Manchester stations. It turns out that our hotel, Staycity Aparthotel, was right next to the train station (part of the same building but no direct access). We were there well before check-in, so we were planning to store our luggage and walk around a bit. However, our room was all ready for us!

We dropped our things off, and the kids ran around the apartment a bit. Miles kept saying, "This is so luxurious!" (It wasn't a luxury hotel at all, but he really liked it, haha).

A peek at luxury

After settling in, it was time for lunch. The city center has a great free bus system, and the hub was right outside our door. We had time to visit one attraction on this day, so we chose a restaurant nearby.

Free bus

I had read about the Oast House on a travel blog post, and it did not disappoint. It was a cozy and rustic pub, with an extensive beer menu.

The kids had fun taking selfies while they waited.

Thanks Lily

What drew my attention foodwise was the Hanging Kebabs TM.  I ordered chicken, which was served with a garlic butter sweet chili sauce. When the food came, you poured the sauce on at the top of the hanger, so it dripped down...

Appetizer of bread with gravy. I wasn't sure about it, but it was very tasty

Kids meal

And that delicious sauce dripped down onto the chips. YUM

I see you!

After we ate, we walked to the nearby John Rylands Library. While it wasn't exactly a child's destination, I really wanted to see it. Fortunately, they had a children's trail, with things for kids to find within the building. This is one of the things I appreciate about many of the places we've visited.

We weren't allowed to take photos in the special exhibits, which held things like the supposed oldest fragment of the new testament (from approximately the 2nd or 3rd century). In all other areas, we could take pictures without flash (so some are pretty dark).

I was captivated by the architecture.

Outside on the inside

How amazing is this place?!

The kids got in a little photo op...

He was into it, I promise

The worksheet Miles was filling in the whole time

Then we got to the reading room, which was very impressive.

When we finished our tour, we stopped in the on-site cafe for drinks. The kids had juice, and Matt and I had coffee.

Lily read her own highlights from a discarded paper.

Then Clara started getting loud, whiny, and not fit for public. We took them outside to run around while we waited for the free bus to take us back to the hotel.

An outside view of the library

When we arrived back at the apartment, I got the kids settled and in pajamas while Matt walked a few doors down to Northern Soul, a grilled cheese joint we had spied earlier.

He brought back mac and cheese for the kids. I had a grilled goats cheese, fig, and caramelized onion sandwich, while Matt opted for the buffalo chicken grilled cheese. Both were a perfect way to end the day.

My sandwich.

Matt's dinner. Don't let the pickles fool you, they were sweet.

The kids noticed that the bridge out the window had a colorful light show, and we watched that briefly before getting everyone to bed.

We had prebooked tickets for the next day, and were excited to see what was to come!